1. Technical Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lamp unit, and more particularly to a structure in which the displacement or the like of the wires is prevented when wires are fastened to wire connection terminals of the lamp unit mounted in a lamp mounting window formed in an interior wall member covering a vehicle body panel.
2. Related Art
When a lamp unit, such as a room lamp and a courtesy lamp, is mounted on an interior wall member (such as a roof trim and a door trim) covering a vehicle body panel, the lamp unit is heretofore mounted in a lamp mounting window formed in the interior wall member.
As shown in FIG. 5, a room lamp 60 is a lamp unit which is mounted in a lamp mounting window (not shown) formed in a roof trim covering a body roof (not shown).
The room lamp 60 mainly comprises a lamp housing 61, an electric bulb 63, and a cover lens 62. After the electric bulb 63 is attached to a lamp mounting portion of the lamp housing 61, the cover lens 62 is attached to the lamp housing 61.
As shown in FIG. 6, one end portion of a wire harness 67 is press-connected directly to press-connecting terminals 66 of bus bars 69 provided in a wire connection recess 65 in the lamp housing 61 of the room lamp 60 by the use of a retaining piece 68. Therefore, the electric bulb 63 is electrically connected to the wire harness 67 installed on the body roof through the bus bars 69 which serve as wire connection terminals and are provided within the lamp housing 61.
Then, the lamp housing 61 is mounted directly on the body roof by bolts 64 through mounting brackets 61a formed on the outer periphery of a bottom plate of this lamp housing. The wire harness 67, integrated with the room lamp 60, extends toward a lower portion of a vehicle body along a predetermined path, and is connected at the other end thereof to another wire harness by a connector. Then, the roof trim is fixedly mounted on the body roof, thus completing the mounting operation. At this time, an outer surface (lower surface in FIG. 5) of the cover lens 62 of the room lamp 60 is exposed to the vehicle interior through the lamp mounting window formed in the roof trim (not shown).
However, in the above related room lamp 60, when the one end portion of the wire harness 67 is press-connected to the press-connecting terminals 66 provided in the lamp housing 61, the wire harness 67 is liable to be displaced relative to the press-connecting terminals 66, and the press-connecting operation and the holding of the end portion of the wire harness 67 during the press-connecting operation need to be carefully effected.
There are occasions when a plurality of lamp units, such as the room lamp 60 and a map lamp, are interconnected by wire harnesses 67, and these wire harnesses 67 are integrated with each other to provide a roof harness. In this case, when the position of connection of the wire harness 67 fastened to the wire connection terminals of each lamp unit is displaced in the longitudinal direction relative to the wire connection terminals, there arises a possibility that each lamp unit can not be mounted in the proper position on the body roof.
It is therefore an object of this invention to solve the above problems, and more specifically to provide a lamp unit in which wires can be easily and accurately positioned and fastened relative to wire connection terminals of the lamp unit.
The object of this invention has been achieved by a lamp unit for mounting in a lamp mounting window formed in an interior wall member covering a vehicle body panel, the lamp unit comprising:
a wire connection terminal;
a wire fastened to the wire connection terminal and installed on the interior wall member; and
bent portions formed respectively at portions of the wire adjacent to the lamp unit so that the bent portions are engaged respectively with predetermined positioning projections formed on a fastening stand for positioning the wire to a wire connection portion of the wire connection terminal.
In this construction, the bent portions of the predetermined shape are beforehand formed respectively at those portions of the wire disposed adjacent to the lamp unit, and in the fastening operation, merely by engaging the bent portions respectively with the predetermined positioning projections formed on the fastening bed, the wire can be easily and accurately positioned relative to the wire connection portions of the wire connection terminals in the lamp unit.
Preferably, the lamp unit comprises a lamp function portion, having the wire connection terminals, and a design portion, and
the lamp function portion is resiliently supported so as to be displaced relative to the lamp mounting window in the interior wall member, and the wire, connected to the wire connection terminals, is retained and fixed to the interior wall member at those portions thereof disposed outwardly of the bent portions, respectively.
In this construction, the lamp function portion, connected to the wire beforehand installed on the interior wall member, is resiliently supported so as to be displaced relative to the lamp mounting window in the interior wall member, and therefore the lamp function portion can be mounted without rattling while absorbing its dislocation relative to the lamp mounting window, and therefore the mounting of the lamp function portion is easy.
At this time, the bent portions of the wire serve as extra-length portions which can be expanded and contracted in accordance with the dislocation of the lamp function portion, and therefore these bent portions prevent an undesirable pulling force from acting on the wire retained and fixed to the interior wall member.